PARCC Field Test Updates

PARCC Field Test Participants,

Districts who are participating in the PBA component of the field test should be receiving materials this week. For the computer-based test, this just consists of manuals and any paper accommodations. These should be arriving today (if you haven’t already received them). For the paper-based test, this should contain all materials necessary for testing. All of these materials are being shipped to the district, not the schools. Each box will be labeled with the school’s RCDTS code. For questions about additional orders, call the PARCC Support Center at 888-493-9888. A few FAQs on shipping have been included below.

Below you will find several documents. First is PARCC’s Hot Topics communication. Within this document, pay special attention to the searchable FAQ document as this will become very useful during the field test. Next you will find PARCC’s most recent Technology Update. In this document it references the Expected Behaviors for the various operating systems. These Expected Behavior documents are also posted.

Just a reminder, if you haven’t already done so, test sessions must be created in PearsonAccess for ALL COMPUTER-BASED TESTS. Students will not be able to log into the test if this step is skipped. This does not apply to paper-based tests. For information on how to do this, reference the PearsonAccess User Guide or call the PARCC Support Center at 888-493-9888.

There will be several opportunities for district staff to provide feedback after the PARCC Field Test. There will also be opportunities for feedback from the students. You can find this information here.

Later this week we will be sending out a communication protocol for questions during the field test. Please be watching for this as it will be useful in knowing where to direct your questions.

Field-Test Shipping FAQs

Question: If a school appears to be missing materials, what do they do?

Answer:

The additional orders window is now available and schools should order any missing materials through the additional orders. If they are missing secure materials assigned to them on their Security Checklist and Packing List, they should complete the Missing/Damaged/Contaminated Materials Form in Appendix D in the Test Coordinator Manual for Paper-Based Testing and return it to Pearson following the instructions on the form.

As an FYI: In many cases when schools believe they are missing materials, it is because of issues with the SDU file that was submitted either not including all the students testing or students were loaded after the deadline for creating a paper test material order. This extract occurred on Feb 13,2014 for the PBA Assessment.

Question: If a school appears to have received the wrong shipment (i.e., a shipment for a different school), what do they do?

Answer:

Email the PARCC Support Center with the information (parcc@support.pearson.com). The Support Center will create a ticket and elevate the issue to the PARCC Program Staff to correct the error.

Question: How will a school know if they’ve received a read-aloud kit? Can they just use another form from the shipment if they are missing a read-aloud kit?

Answer:

Read-aloud kits are shrink wrapped with 2 test booklets and 1 answer document (if grades 4-high school) and are clearly labeled as read-aloud kits. Read-aloud kits use a particular form, so a school cannot just use another available form. If a school is missing a read-aloud kits that is needed, the school/district will need to order it through the additional order window.

Question: Can schools/districts track their orders?

Answer:

Yes. Schools/districts can track their shipments through PearsonAccess. Schools/districts can view how to do this by viewing the Training Module on paper-based shipments on www.parcc.pearson.com/tms in the section labeled Test Set-up under "Shipment Tracking" (around the 28 minute mark).